Page 105 of Unforgivable

“Swiped it earlier. Thought we might need it,” he declared, cleaning my thighs and crack as best he could. Before he pulled my underwear into place, he sank to one knee and sucked my softened length into his warm mouth. I jolted at the feel, moaning softly as he swirled his tongue around to clean me of any remaining cum. He pulled off with a soft pop, grinning up at me as he finished doing up my jeans.

“Mmm, my favorite flavor,” he crooned. He grabbed my face and hauled me in for a deep, soulful kiss, one I felt down to my very core. I tasted the light remnants of me on his tongue, and it made my head swim. He inhaled my moan and answered with one of his own, lips sliding together in perfect rhythm. Too soon, he released me with a satisfied sigh and the look on his face made my chest pinch.

“I love you, Sweetness,” he whispered, his thumbs sweeping across my cheekbones. The man gazing at me with unchecked affection wassuch a far cry from the one who tormented me months ago. When Cal’s mask fell away, what was left was someone who yearned for touch and comfort and unconditional love. Maybe this is the man the rest of the world would have seen if not for the trauma and loss he faced, but a selfish part of me was glad I was the only one who saw him this way. I loved that Cal’s soft, loving side was reserved for me and me alone. I was the one with the power to unmask him and I didn’t take that for granted.

I knew who he truly was now. There were no more masks between us, no more walls. We saw each other for who we really were: two halves of one beautifully broken whole.

“I love you more,” I countered, recapturing his mouth as I clung to him. We made our way back to the open field and slunk around the outer edges to avoid Cal getting pulled into another conversation. We quickly snuck upstairs into the guest room Griffin had set aside for us. After a brief rinse off in the shower, we climbed into bed and Cal immediately curved around me from behind.

With his hot breath on the back of my neck and his warm body spooning me perfectly, I sank into a contented sleep. My last thought was of a future spent just like this, safe in his embrace.

32

CALLUM

“You know, I’m not an expert on the matter or anything, but I believe the black button to the left of the door releases a signal that, when heard, alerts the occupants of the house to the presence of someone on their porch. Could be useful in this moment, but…you know, just a suggestion. Standing here is good too.”

The look I aimed at Rhys told him his sarcasm was unappreciated in the moment, but he only blinked those wide violet eyes at me in a way he knew would always get him out of trouble.

We’d been standing on the porch of Jack’s new house for almost four minutes. In the grand scheme of things, four minutes was nothing, but when you were starving and it was hot as Satan’s nutsack outside, it was practically an eternity. I just wasn’t ready yet. I’d waffled on the decision of us having lunch with Jack and seeing his new place for nearly two weeks. Eventually, Rhys used his…considerable skills to convince me to suck it up and give the lunch a chance.

And by considerable skills, I mean he woke me with a blowjob and rode me like a bronco at the rodeo. It was a very effective method of persuasion, not gonna lie.

“I just don’t know what this lunch will look like to him. Will he take it as a sign all is forgiven when it’s not? Will he expect this to be a regular thing now? It’s so much pressure…it’s making me itchy,” I complained.

“I thought only hugs did that to you? What else makes you itchy? Is this, like, a medical thing I need to worry about?” Rhys asked, eyeing me up and down.

“That’syour takeaway from what I said?” I said exasperatedly. I knew he was trying to distract me from my mess of thoughts, but I was too anxious. He must have sensed his usual tactics weren’t working because he turned fully to face me, cupping my cheeks in his hands. As though my tension was siphoned off into his palms, I immediately relaxed at his touch.

“Baby, it’s going to be okay,” he promised me softly, his expression serious. “He’s not going to expect anything, just like he hasn’t expected anything from you this far. He’s been patient and taken this at your pace the last few months. I doubt that will change just because we agreed to lunch. Remember, he said no pressure, ever. Plus if he really does put the pressure on you, I’ll just beat him up.”

I let out a snort and cracked a smile at the ridiculous imagery. “Ah, I’m sure that’d be quite effective. Since when are you so prone to violence, Evans?”

“Since I fell in love with a psychopath,” he tsked, releasing me to ring the doorbell. “I must have picked up his bad habits.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but my retort died on my tongue as the door swung open and we were greeted by a grinning Jack. His gaze latched onto me and the hope I saw there had my heart twisting. It was a lot easier to hold onto my anger and resentment when he wasn’t right there in front of me, looking at me with a warmth and love I hadn’t seen from him since childhood.

“There you guys are! The steaks are almost done on the grill, so you have great timing,” Jack said, opening the door wider to let us in. “I’m gonna go check on the food real fast, but feel free to look around.” I gave him a small smile as he headed straight back to the patio doors. I took in the open office that was to our left, framed by glass French doors. Rhys and I walked through the foyer hall to the decent sized living room, all gray and white with accents of navy throughout. There was a stone fireplace in the far corner with a TV mounted above it. The bright kitchen was across to the right, the marble island serving as a bar to sit at.

I ventured into the living room, liking the comfy, light feel of it when the framed photos on the mantle caught my eye. My stomach clenched as I studied the pictures of me sitting there. There was one ofme playing in a UT Lacrosse game and another of me in my cap and gown from my high school graduation. The third was of me and Jack at a football game he’d taken me to when I was maybe eight. My eyes stung as I took them in, wondering why he was displaying these now. My heart stopped when I reached the last photo I’d never seen before.

My mom’s tired face beamed from a hospital bed, an infant me nestled in her arms as Jack sat next to her with his arm draped around us. The smile on his face matched the one on mom’s, and you’d be forgiven for thinking they were a beautiful, young couple who had just welcomed their first child into the world.Because…that’s what they were. At least in that moment.

“Those were the very first things I put up when I moved in.” Jack’s deep voice rumbled from behind, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the picture. “Unsurprisingly, Blair didn’t want them out at the old house. But I wanted to be able to see yours and Leana’s faces every day, so I put them up at my office. Now, I get to have them back in my home where they belong.”

“Where did you get this one?” I spun around, clutching the hospital photo in my hand. “I’ve never seen it before.”

A sad smile played on Jack’s face as he stepped forward and took the photo from me. He looked at it with such a melancholic expression that it almost hurt my heart to witness. “I asked the nurse to snap this real quick on one of those old disposable cameras I had. I think Leana was so doped up that she completely forgot about it. I only had the one copy among all the others from that day that were just of you and her, so I kept it and gave her the rest. It was just a little piece of us that I was able to keep.”

I was rooted to the spot, my face cold and wet from tears that I hadn’t noticed had fallen. I instinctively clutched at Rhys’ hand, but felt nothing but air until he sidled up next to me, intertwining our fingers to ground me. “Can I—” I cleared my throat, but the words were caught in the web of emotion strumming through me.

Jack’s face softened in recognition of what I was trying to ask. “I’ll make you a copy tomorrow,” he smiled at me. I could only nod my thanks as I placed the frame back on the mantle, giving it one last glance as we all headed outside to eat.

We sat out on the shaded deck, the conversation flowing easier than I expected it to. Jack asked about our school, our majors, our friends, Rhys’ family, our plans after graduation, and how we met. Thatquestion had Rhys squirming and me fighting to hold back my laughter at how uncomfortable he looked, but we settled on telling him that we met at a party. I mean, it wasn’t a lie. He didn’t need to know the pesky details.

“I’m sorry about the championship last weekend. That was a tough loss. How is your team handling it?” Jack asked, topping off our wine as we finished our steaks.

“Some of us are dealing with it better than others. Griffin was being a dramatic shit all week, wearing nothing but black and declaring it a period of mourning. I tried locking him in his room after the fifth day, but fucker broke out in under fifteen minutes,” I shared, laughing at the memory of Griff’s endless profanities and colorful threats as he tried to jimmy the lock.

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